A number of peace- and justice-loving persons as well as organisations have welcomed the Supreme Court order to probe into the role of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi into the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In a statement on April 28, Engineer Mohammad Saleem, State President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Rajasthan, said, “Though pretty late, it still gives a sigh of relief to the almost hopeless victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots.” He was hopeful that this would help restore the people’s trust in the judicial system of the country. He was also optimistic that the real culprits of Gujarat riots would be brought to justice, however powerful they are.
Earlier a TV channel had also aired the video clips showing Mr. Modi’s and some of his close fellow party men’s involvement in the genocide. “But there was no action on the part of the central government,” Mr. Saleem added. He was disappointed on projecting Modi as the next PM. He believed that the right place for Mr. Modi was behind the bars rather than the Prime Minister’s seat.
Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ, Director PRASHANT, a Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, in a statement on April 27, said, “The decision of the Supreme Court asking the Raghavan Committee to probe the role of the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat Carnage of 2002, has certainly come as a ray of hope to the many victims. Above all, this step by the Supreme Court has to be interpreted as a triumph of Justice and for its unstinted commitment to preserve the secular fabric of the Indian Constitution.
“For more than seven years now, the one earnest plea by some of those concerned about the injustices of 2002, was that a full and proper investigation be conducted and that every effort be made to address this horrendous act committed on innocent people. It was not without reason that the then Prime Minister Vajpayee when he visited Gujarat in 2002, very directly demanded that the Chief Minister follow “Raj Dharma”. It was also not without reason that a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, while admitting applications on behalf of the victims, had to make references like “modern day Nero”.
“Obviously, there are many in Gujarat society who would best want the horrors of 2002 to be forgotten. However, one has to realize and accept that when a whole section of one’s population is brutalized and decimated, things will never be the same again.
“The only way that one can help towards the realization of this normalcy, is to take a definite stand for the triumph of Justice and Truth. It will therefore be fitting for the people of Gujarat on this, the Diamond Jubilee year of the Constitution of India, to come out strongly as one people, to ensure that at least in this land of Mahatma, that Ahimsa will come to stay and before that, we can proudly live in a land where ‘Satyameva Jayate’ are not only words that come out from our lips.”